


Where Nanami Went

by Team_Two_Cats



Series: Silly (Suikoden) Love Songs [3]
Category: Suikoden, Suikoden II
Genre: Alternate Reality, F/F, Hurt/Comfort, Only One Bed
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-07-01
Updated: 2019-07-01
Packaged: 2020-06-02 08:28:12
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,228
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19437691
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Team_Two_Cats/pseuds/Team_Two_Cats
Summary: Following the events in Rockaxe, Nanami just wants a break from war, a break from the memories of Riou and Jowy fighting. But where can she go to escape? Viki might know just the place, and it might lead Nanami into the distraction she's been hoping for.





	Where Nanami Went

When she closes her eyes she sees the moment they decided they could kill each other, the moment both of them silenced the pleading voice that just wanted them to stop this, to walk away, to be friends again, in love, the world still a place where their future together was out there waiting for them to find it. Her voice.

“And you want to go somewhere…?” Viki asks, head tilted just slightly to the side, her puppy-dog eyes eager for the task but unsure of what exactly to do.

“Far away,” Nanami says. Shu said if she’s going to be absent, she needs to go someplace Riou wouldn’t have a chance of finding her. Someplace he wouldn’t wander looking for a rare rune or piglet. “I need to go somewhere far, far away.”

Viki purses her lips, then smiles broadly. “I know just the place!”

“Grea—“ but before Nanami can finish there’s a blink of light and her stomach lurches. She’s somewhere else.

“I will _never_ get used to that,” she says, taking a stumbling step before catching herself. “Where are…we…?”

She looks up from the still-spinning ground and realizes that they wherever they are, they’re not alone. Throngs of people rush about, wearing clothes that make Rainbow Castle look downright modest. Lights flash from small devices people carry everywhere that look almost like crystals. Runes, perhaps? Then she looks up, and sees they are inside a great space, bigger even than the Great Hall. One side of the room is entirely windows and in streams light and energy and noise.

“Uh…sorry…” Viki says, cheeks flushed, heading nodding a bit like she, too, is dizzy from the trip. “Maybe this was _too_ far.”

A small distance away a pair of young men have stopped and are staring at them. Nanami shakes her head in attempt to clear the post-teleportation haze but accidentally makes eye contact with one of them, who approaches, the other in his wake.

“Why didn’t you cosplay Jeane?” the one in front says, and both chuckle, faces reddening in…did they think that was a joke?

“Yeah, or at least pick something canonical,” the second says. “What’s with the bandage? Are you supposed to be Post-Rockaxe Nanami? Because that would be stupid, given she only showed back up in the game after she was healed. Might as well be writing fanfiction about it.”

Whatever is going on, Nanami feels the sudden urge to see how the would look crumpled into small, bloody piles. She cracks her knuckles, but winces at the pain in her chest. Doctor Huan said to be careful, that she could easily open her wound, bleed internally. She grimaced.

“Yeah, and Suikoden II Viki is so _ugh_. Give me some of that _young Viki_ from III any day of the—“

The sound of wood on bone breaks his sentence and likely his arm as a new figure appears from the side. One who looks…strangely familiar.

“Leave off, pedoshits,” the new arrival says, pulling her staff back as if to strike again. The men’s eyes travel from her to Viki, back again, and then they both bolt away, the one clutching his arm.

“Well that was satisfying,” the woman says, and Nanami has to shake her head again, this time in case she’s seeing double. Because…it’s another Viki. Or, mostly. Her hair is cut short and she’s smirking in a way Nanami’s never seen Viki smirk, but otherwise they look…identical.

“Oh, hi Viki,” Viki says. Er…original Viki. Not…Nanami grimaces at the beginning of a migraine.

The…new(?) Viki rolls her eyes. “And what are you doing here? With her?”

“She needed to get far away because…because…” Viki puts a finger to her chin, then turns back to Nanami. “Why _did_ you need to get far away.”

Nanami sighs. “Because—“

“Because her brother and his boyfriend are having a big fight and she can’t stand the thought of having to watch them kill each other,” Viki(2?) says, and Nanami jerks a bit at the answer. Does she know… “Plus, she got shot by an arrow. It would ruin your day, too. Right, right, that’s where we must be in the timeline. Cool.”

Nanami blinks, head swiveling between Viki’s. Timelines? What?

“Don’t sweat it,” (butch?) Viki says. Her eyes run over Nanami as if appraising her. “We Vikis can transport through space, time, _and dimension_. It’s no big deal, but it means we sometimes overlap. Like now. But Viki has somewhere to be, so I guess I’ll be your guide until she remembers to come pick you up. Or until you’re ready for me to blink you back.”

Original Viki seems to think on that a moment, then nods. “Yeah, that sounds right. Thanks!” She smiles, gives a small bow, then is gone.

Nanami reaches out after her. “Wait—“

"No use," the remaining Viki says. "We're sort of like that. Abrupt and shit. I'm afraid you're stuck with me for now."

"I was afraid you'd say that," she says.

Nanami still traces the space original Viki had been with her eyes, as if willing the familiar teleporter back. But it’s only empty air and she feels another round of dizziness as she looks out at the sea of people, the strange sights, the strange sounds and smells and…Vikis. Viki (at least with one it’s easier in that way) reaches out and takes her hand, pulls her from where she landed and into the waiting stream of people.

“You showed up at a great time. Comic Con! One of the only places in the multi that I never feel like a complete idiot. The costume, you know? You’d think I could just buy a pair of jeans and a sensible top but nope. These robes are special. Sindarian, you know? Helps me keep it together and not go blinking off into a million pieces at once. Well…most of the time.”

“I’m sorry what?” Nanami asks, trying not to get to crushed against the waves of people, many of them in elaborate costumes. At least she didn’t feel _that_ weird, though it did seem that her fashion choices were not the norm for…wherever this was.”

“You look a little shellshocked,” Viki says. You need a coffee and a muffin or something. Unless you’ve got blood sugar issues. Or wait, do you gluten?”

Nanami opens her mouth to answer but is pretty sure she only understood half of that.

“Whatever there will be food at least, and then maybe we can find a place to talk. I’ll give you the lay of the land, catch you up on the ending of _Game of Thrones_.”

“O…kay,” Nanami says, finally surrendering fully to the firm pull of Viki’s hand on hers. Whatever was happening, it was doing one thing at least—distracting her for her reasons for being her.

***

It turns out that putting a packet of salt into a…Frappuccino(?) is actually delicious. Viki might look on in horror, but Nanami feels about as content as she has in…oh right.

“Uh oh, why the sudden sad face?” Viki asks. “You finally discover that you have a tongue?”

Nanami can’t help but smile, and it still feels like a betrayal.

“No…just…” She looks into her drink as if it’s hiding the words she can’t find.

“Boys, right?” Viki says, moving around the small table to slide onto the bench next to Nanami. “Who needs ‘em? So your brother and his beau are having something of a spat. Will it make you feel better if I tell you they get over it?”

The thought hits like a charging boar. Eyes suddenly wide, she stares at Viki. “You mean you know?”

Viki leans back enough and arches her eyebrows.

“I told you, didn’t I? I know the _future_. Just like I know that me and you…” She once again sweeps Nanami with her gaze, slower this time, her cheeks taking on a noticeable shade of pink.

Nanami swallows and feels her face warm. Why is heart beating faster at the thought? At—no, it has to be at the prospect that Viki knows that the war ends, that Jowy and Riou remain together. That they can all be a family again.

“But I shouldn’t get ahead of myself,” Viki says.

“But what about Riou and Jowy?” The question comes out louder than she wants, and more than a little desperation. She feels like a Failure Urn balanced on the edge of a pedestal, sure to shatter with the smallest push. Her eyes meet Viki’s and the teleporter seems to pause before saying something, seems to stop herself. Her expression changes, that smirk giving way to something else, something almost…she looks away quickly.

“Look, I can’t say too much,” Viki says quickly, clearing her throat. “Time travel rules and all that shit. I’d be in deep with the other Viki’s if I just let that kind of thing slip casually.”

Nanami is sure that’s the shove, that’s the air rushing around her, that’s the ground—

“But I can totally say that it turns out all right,” Viki continues, and it’s like a mitt catching her before she crashes against the floor. “I mean, you know them better than anyone. Do you really think that they’d kill each other?”

Nanami blinks, and in the time her eyes are closed she sees them standing in Rockaxe, certain they won’t back down. Her eyes open, and she sees Viki’s face, soften now, more serious than she’d been a moment ago. Another blink, and she sees them after the arrow hit, sees them fighting together again, bodies moving with a harmony that went beyond conscious thought. After, she had thought… Eyes open, she feels tears welling, sniffs loudly and takes another sip of her drink, realizes with a burbling slurp that it’s empty.

“Well at least now that you’re rested up we get back to the con!” Viki says, downing the last of her drink and tossing their cups into a nearby bin.

"Yeah, about that," Nanami says, reluctantly following. This world moves so fast, and with her injuries and all the strangeness she feels adrift, in danger of drowning in the sheer surrealism of it. A different reality, a different time. Viki says the devices everyone carries are actually technological, gadgets that allow them to communicate and access information. It's basically Meg's wet dream. But the rest of it, the...convention itself.

"Oh, I _love_ comic con!" Viki says, slowly enough to once more take Nanami's hand in hers. It's a lifeline now, a way through the fog of confusion this day has become. And there is a warmth there Nanami didn't expect, a way her body reacts that must just be stress, right? That must be...

"But I still don't get it. It's for...comic books?" She uses the word despite there not being something comparable back home. A book of pictures, on paper, featuring stories that here are viewed as fantastical.

"And movies, television, novels, and video games!"

"And that's why...people recognize...us?" Nanami asks.

"Yeah, well, to them we're just characters from a video game," Viki says.

As to underscore the point, a woman dressed up like Millie, complete with a plush Bonaparte, waves at them.

"I heard some people saying they thought Konami's going to do a remake!" she calls from across the hall.

Viki rolls her eyes. "Keep dreaming!" she calls back.

The woman dressed as Millie frowns but is quickly lost in the flow of people. Nanami readies a question but Viki answers it before it's spoken.

"Our video game is a bit...old now," she says. "Still has some hardcore fans but there hasn't been a new entry into the series in over a decade. I keep looking for realities that have more than that, where there are new games, new fans, but so far...no luck."

"...Series?" Nanami asks.

Viki flashes a grin and squeezes Nanami's hand. "Just try to enjoy the ride," she says, pulling forward faster so that they're almost running. "I have _so much_ to show you!"

And the warmth of their hands spreads up Nanami's arm, reaching toward the cold place in their chest where the arrow pierced.

***

They nearly collapse through the door to Viki's room. The day has been a whirlwind. Artist's alley. Panels on video games, on things that Nanami had never dreamed of. And a growing realization that Nanami's world was one of many, one of a nearly infinite chain stretched out like stars gently orbiting each other, with pathways between that Viki apparently could travel.

She seems different from the mysteries (and a bit airy) woman that joined Riou's army. More aware of her surroundings and the world she's in. More in control of her powers. And yet still just as enthusiastic, just as...distract-able as ever.

Viki still doesn't let go of Nanami's hand as she leads her into the room, lights illuminating the space with a press of a button. It's not exactly palatial, the room cozy with a few pieces of furniture—a desk, a chair, a large bed—and a bathroom. Nanami makes short work of taking it all in. There are piles of things, books and posters, strewn about the room, and Viki reddens a bit.

"Sorry about the mess," she says. "I wasn't really expecting company."

Nanami snorts. "I thought you said you can see the future?"

Viki hand slips a bit, as if she wants to pull it away, but Nanami holds on.

"Ah, well," Viki rubs the back of her neck with her free hand. "I can. It's just...not always in the right order. So sometimes it takes my a bit by surprise is all."

It makes about as much sense as everything else. Given the day she's had, Nanami decides to roll with it.

"Well thank you for the wonderful day." They'd eaten at a restaurant that served all sorts of food, though most it in portions fit for kobolds. They'd seen a cosplay contest (Viki said they were rigged because only characters from "popular" series won). Most importantly, Nanami had barely thought about...oh.

In the relative quiet of the room, away from the crowds of the convention, it came back like wave rolling over her. Blink, and she was back in Rockaxe, back in the infirmary, back...back...

Viki's hand slipped free of her own and Nanami's head snapped up, pulled out from under the weight of memory. Viki waved her hand at the bed and it was cleared suddenly. She then retreated to some sort of mechanical box and produced a pair of bottles.

"I bet you could use a drink," Viki says. "I sure as hell could."

The beer is cold, bitter, and strong. It fits her mood more than she cares to admit, trying to force a smile as Viki tells her about her adventures through space and time. And if occasionally she realizes that her smile is genuine instead of pasted on, she tries to blame the whirlwind of the day and the alcohol, which Viki seems well supplied with.

"So there I was, staring at...me!" Viki says, drinking deep. "I couldn't believe it. I whirled on Lucia, who tried to play the whole 'it's not cheating if it's your alternate dimension/timeline self' bs. I was _livid_. Sometimes I really am the worst."

"Wait, you...stole your own girlfriend?" Nanami asks. Her head is starting to swim and she enjoys the buzz, the stories, the company. The knot insider her has come loose but she feels it less, and her limbs feel full of a pleasant slowness. Riou and Jowy seem...she blinks and she sees Jowy a minute before he runs away, his face a mask of pain and conflict. They're trapped, she knows, trapped in the gravity of war. They can't, won't pull free of it. But she can. It's like the arrow cut the tether holding her to it, to them. And it fills her with more sadness and hope than she can explain.

"Hah, that's what _I_ thought!" Viki says, then pauses, tilts her head to the side in that particular way all Vikis seem to have. "Or, not what _I_ thought. I mean, that's what the me I found in the closet thought. I gagged her, though, and tied her on the bed, and made her watch as me and Lucia, well..."

Viki's cheeks darken again and Nanami feels herself react as well. And there's no mistake about it now, no way of saying that it's just the day, or the booze. She is full of a sudden thrill, a sudden lightening, as if the war was a weight she had carried and could finally set down? When was the last time she had kissed another? When she can felt the heat of desire stir? Not since...before the war, certainly. Before Master Genkaku died. And Viki is here, smiling, beautiful and sweet and...

"Hey," Nanami asks, leaning back a bit from her seat on the bed, moving her legs from cross-legged to having one dangle over the edge. "I just realized...where am I supposed to sleep tonight?"

Viki makes a show of looking around, though her eyes seem to hover on Nanami. "Oh right, this is a single. Well, I mean, I...could sleep on the floor, if you prefer..."

"Hmm..." Nanami leans all the way back so that she's sprawled on the bed, arms stretching out, gliding over the blankets. "This seems like too much bed for just one person."

Viki bites her bottom lip, sets her beer down on the side table.

"Well, I mean, I'd totally be up to sharing. Though..." She slides into the bed next to Nanami, her hand sliding over the blankets as well, glancing Nanami's. "...I do have a tendency to toss and turn. Sometimes I even..."

She moves closer, hand leading the rest of her body so that she's pressed against Nanami's side, the heat of them now like kindling waiting for a single spark. "...end up with my arms around whoever's in bed next to me."

"Well, I'd hate to make a liar of your knowledge of the future," Nanami says, remembering what Viki had said before about the two of them.

"What?" Viki asks.

"I mean, I'd hate to fight fate," Nanami says.

"Ah, shit..." Viki says, pulling away.

Nanami whimpers at the sudden distance, wanting Viki to press, to help her forget and embrace this moment, free and clear of the war and the possibility that everything would burn to ash.

"Why are you—"

"Yeah, I should really come clean if we're gonna actually...you know," Viki says. She takes a deep breath. "All that about knowing that we would...you know? That wasn't _exactly true_. I mean, I _do_ remember a lot about the different worlds. More than most Vikis. And what I said about your friends, I mean, that's true, you could look _that_ up on GameFaqs. But...mostly I was just wanted to see how you reacted. If...it was something you wanted or not. But...but if it's the reason that you're doing this..."

Nanami reaches out, takes Viki's arm, and pulls her into a kiss, giving herself to the fire she feels inside her, the same one burning through the knot of worry and guilt and remorse, all of it fuel for this feeling, this moment. She's here, now, and this is exactly what she wants.

"Maybe you're just more of a prophet than you give yourself credit for," she says. "Unless _you_ don't want this?"

A sly smile slithers across Viki's mouth, and she pulls back completely this time. Nanami lets out a startled squeak, afraid for a moment that it _does_ mean the fun is over, but instead Viki concentrates a moment and the bed is suddenly covered in strange objects, devices.

"Now, let's see..." Viki begins picking things up, and Nanami's eyes bulge when she realizes that these must all be...

"Too kinky," Viki says, discarding a black whip. "Too vanilla." And a simple glass dildo is flung back and disappears in a blink. "Too...wait, is this some sort of toothbrush?" She holds something that begins buzzing and vibrating when she hits a button. "Oh...well, still probably not." And it disappears as well.

"Ah!" Viki says, snagging a small pile of what look like silk ribbons. "Just right!"

Nanami swallows, suddenly apprehensive, remembering the...colorful details Viki used in her stories. Nanami didn't have...that kind of experience. But...but she steadied herself. Here she was, in another dimension where she was just a video game character. Where the impact of her actions would effect...her and Viki and almost no one else. Where she could embrace the adventure of it, the joy, which was all she wanted. To go and see the world and be with those she cares about. Well, this is definitely seeing the world. Beyond the world, even. She smiles and leans back, watches as Viki waves the other items away and approaches.

"If this gets too much," she says, running a hand over Nanami's wrist, down her arm, tracing her outline through her clothes. "Or if you don't like something, just let me know. This is about feeling good, okay?"

Nanami nods, and leans forward for another kiss, enjoying the soft slide of silk on her skin as Viki captures her wrist with one of the ribbons, then pulls back to secure it to the bed frame. The process repeats with her other wrist, with both ankles.

Then Viki is above her, face inches from Nanami's, who blinks...and opens her eyes, mouth dry, heart pounding. Who blinks...and opens her eyes, and sees nothing but the beautiful face hovering above her. It's magic.

And as Viki descends, and their tongues dance, and Viki shows her skill by blinking away one piece of clothing at a time, the magic endures and spreads, until all there is are hands on skin, lips, a needful rocking, and all the world blinks away into the heat that builds and comes burning outward, consuming everything.

***

In the morning Nanami wakes early. There's a tightness in her chest, the pain of the old injury, but it feels...somehow less. She wonders about waking Viki when she discovers she's already up and sitting at the desk, staring at her staff, frowning.

"So that probably wasn't cool, right, taking advantage when we were both a bit drunk and you were fresh from inter-dimensional travel, huh?"

Nanami's brow furls. She remembers last night, knows she wasn't too drunk too...but she understands, understands that it's not like she's in the best emotional state, that even if she was the one to kiss first, Viki is the one with the power here, and if Nanami took a minute to think about it, the teleporter is her only ticket to getting home. But it is firstly, too early for this shit, and secondly, not something she feels coerced into. If anything...

She slides out of bed, still naked, and kneels down in front of Viki. "Hey, none of that," she says. "I was, I hope, _very_ clear that I wanted what happened. If anything, I feel a little bad...using you."

And there's that head tilt again, those confused eyes that Nanami can't help but warm to.

"The whole point of coming here was to get away from the war. From...Riou and Jowy." Saying their names aloud still hurts some, but strangely less than it did a day ago. "And you've been a most excellent host. Kind, enthusiastic, and...amazing in bed. I'm sorry if I...didn't make it clear earlier that I wanted—that you were doing nothing wrong."

Viki is silent a moment, then nods. "I'm glad," she says. "But I should say one thing more, just so you know. It's...well, I can send you on at any time. You could leave now if you want."  
Nanami's heart skips, the thought of returning...

"What? But the war's still on. I couldn't—"

Viki shakes her head. "Remember, I can travel in space _and_ time? If you wanted, I could take you back to when the war is over. We don't have to wait weeks. The future is right there for you, with your family. Your happily ever after..."

"Can wait," Nanami hears herself saying, even before she feels the resolve blossom inside her. She draws one hand under Viki's chin and leans in for a kiss.

After she pulls back, she says, "Even if what you say is true and you can take be back now...I'm not ready. Not physically, not mentally. I...I've been waiting for a long time for the war to end. But skipping to it now...I think taking a break here, with you, is exactly what I want."

Viki's eyes brighten, and she leaps to her feet, her own clothes and staff gone in a blink.

"In that case," she says, and in her hands rests one of the devices from the bed last night. The...toothbrush...?

"What are you going to do with _that_?" Nanami asks, but Viki only laughs and turns it on, chasing her back to the bed.

**Author's Note:**

> I always wondered where it was that Nanami went while pretending to be dead, and here's a (hopefully cute) explanation. Also alternate Viki might take some liberties with the character but I had a lot of fun writing her. Cheers!


End file.
